- Title: GERMANY: Protesters and police assess the damage after rioting in Rostock
- Date: 3rd June 2007
- Summary: WIDE OF POLICEMAN IN INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE)(German) POLICE SPOKESMAN ACHIM RIDDER, SAYING: "Altogether we have 433 injured police officers, 30 of them seriously injured. There were 125 people arrested for violence; 52 have been released again. There were two more burnt cars this morning, in the early hours, so altogether three cars were burned. It was an escalation of viol
- Embargoed: 18th June 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAE5D9KATVP8H8J0HCQWBCPODC0
- Story Text: Police and protesters assess the damage they sustained after anti-G8 demonstrations deteriorated into riots.
Both police and protesters on Sunday (June 3) were left considering the damage and the implications of Saturday's rioting on their tactics for the rest of the G8 summit.
German police were involved in serious clashes with hundreds of protesters in the north German port city following a much larger peaceful demonstration against next week's Group of Eight summit in a nearby Baltic resort.
"The people are scared of the police and what will happen now," Tim Laumeyer from the Interventionist Left-Wing group. "We had more than 500 injured demonstrators and there are fears that some police units will do their own thing again or that the police will not stick to their de-escalation tactic and people are afraid of that. And so I don't think that we shall be seeing riot scenes to the same extent in the next few days."
Police say that they identified up to 4,000 protesters as a hard core of violent activists who threw bottles, sticks and stones at riot police, on the fringes of a rally in the town's harbour area.
The protesters, most of whom were clad in black from head to toe, set fire to a car, damaged shop windows and torched bins.
"Altogether we have 433 injured police officers, 30 of them seriously injured. There were 125 people arrested for violence; 52 have been released again," said police spokesman Achim Ridder.
"There were two more burnt cars this morning, in the early hours, so altogether three cars were burned. It was an escalation of violence like we hadn't expected but also that we hadn't feared."
Ridder said it was hard to know how many protesters had been injured as most belonged to the militant left-wing "Schwarzer Block".
Tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrtors had earlier taken part in two peaceful marches protesting against the G8 which converged at the harbour where rock music and speeches were planned, now the groups are worried that the protesters image is tarnished and that the demonstrations during the rest of the summit will be marred by such pictures.
Water cannons and tear gas were used to disperse the violent protesters, who had gathered around the edge of the rally and in the narrow streets of the restored, medieval harbour town.
Earlier, a diverse group of peaceful marchers passed through an overcast Rostock, blowing whistles and waving banners with slogans ranging from "Stop Privatisation!", to "World Peace Now!" and "Water Is A Human Right!".
Up to 100,000 people had been expected but police said only 25,000 people attended. Organisers disputed the police figures and said at least 80,000 people had turned up. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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